18 May 2013, Saturday
(17:00 – 18:30)
What does a
university graduation mean for a chess player?
By Cenen
Herrera
Writing from Iowa City, Iowa
Writing from Iowa City, Iowa
When a pawn reaches the eighth
row in chess, it is usually promoted to an officer level, i.e., the pawn could become
any of the chess officials like a horse, bishop, rook or queen. Graduation for a pawn is not easy, but what
makes it successful depends on the strategy of the player. Every chess game is an endless struggle to
think in advance the moves of your opponent, e.g., probably the next 2 to 25
moves of the opponent, anticipating the best and worst scenarios and executing
a game plan that could lead to success. It
is extremely difficult to have a complete control of your game, but along the
way it is always important to bear in mind that risk is the only thing certain
in chess. A good chess player will prepare
hard for an endgame that is at least, characterized by a winning position, a
material advantage or the possibility of salvaging a draw under the worst
scenario.
This is a probable scenario on how a chess player could reflect
on the graduation of a child. The chess
player will remind the child that a key success factor after graduation in
college is the formulation of a winning strategy. Championing hard work, humility, and honesty
requires careful planning. The opening
years might be full of excitement as the new graduate balances career and
social life. It is under this stage,
after the first six-month euphoria is over, that serious planning should
begin. A well-laid out plan would
normally spell-out the Graduate’s career objectives by crafting a vision/mission statement, which is normally prepared during or before college. The sure guide for this plan is to craft an
objective where you will find the ultimate happiness: How much equity do you
intend to win in your chosen field?
Equity here could be defined as either tangible or intangible. Tangible equity might mean the financial
assets you have earned and retained, and intangible equity might mean the
intellectual/social assets you might have accumulated.
Once the overarching vision/mission statement has been
defined, the Graduate should look for the opportunities that could align vision
with resources. A value-driven career is
the catalytic tool that could transform one’s resources into a robust income
engine. Such income engine should be
able to sustain one’s professional lifestyle at the same time enabling one to
retain a decent amount of savings for the end-game.
As one of my former colleagues in the company we were working for in Iowa
said: “I only know two types of speed in my career: fast and faster;” To which I countered: “I only know two types of leadership
altitude: high or higher.”
The Speaker during
the UI graduation rites shared her career journey from a fresh college graduate
in marketing at UI way back in the eighties to become a c-level executive in
her career in one of the most respected TV stations in America today. She said that to be successful in one’s career,
you have to find your happiness, meaning, the work place should be interchangeable
with your play place. You should be
happy with the people you work with, the clients you work for, and the community you
serve. Life is preparing for the
end-game which many call graduation from physical to eternal life. She reminded the graduating class to be
mindful of their spiritual being. At the
end of the speech of the Guest Speaker, I came to realize that graduation is
not an end-game, but like in chess, an opening where you could face the
familiar and dangerous financial gambits, the classical book openings, and the
unorthodox and unexplored moves of a genius who once ruled this game - American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion Bobby James Fischer.
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